Improvement in steam-meters



G. HOLLY Steam-Meter.

No. 210,328. 7 1 Patented Nov. 26,1878.

NJEI'ERS. PHOTO-LIYHOGRAPHEK WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARLOS HOLLY, OF LOCKPORT, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-METERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,328, dated November26, 1878; application filed September 9, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CARLOS HOLLY, of Lockport, county of Niagara, Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Meters,which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification andaccompanying drawing.

The drawing represents in perspective such an apparatus.

The object of this invention is to determine the amount of steam usedfor heating purposes, as in radiators for buildings, &c-.; and theinvention consists in the combination of a meterin g device with theradiator, in such a manner that the water of condensation may becollected and measured, or the quantity that has come to the radiator assteam may be deter; mined and indicated by registering mechanismautomatically, and thereby record the amount of steam used in the saidradiator or system of pipes wherein the condensation of the-steam mayoccur.

At A is shown the steam-generator as a boiler, that may be placed in thebasement of a building. From said boiler a pipe, as at B, conducts thesteam to a radiator, C, which may be of any desired form, but here shownas a shell formed of two plates of metal.

At the lower corner of the radiator, as at D, there is attached a pipeto carry off the water of condensation from the radiator and to returnit to the boiler, as is usually done. Said pipe, however, instead ofreturning directly to the boiler, is led into the top of a chamber, asat E, in which the meter is placed, and where the water of condensationis measured before it is returned to the boiler or permitted to escape,as the case may be.

In the present arrangement the meter consists of a hopper-shapedreceptacle, as at F, divided into two compartments for receiving thewater as it comes from the radiator; and said receptacle is mounted onpivots, so that when one compartment is filled to a certain extent itwill be turned down by the weight of the water and thereby emptied, andat the same time bring the other compartment into a position to befilled, which, when done, will turn down by the weight of the water onthat side and bring the other compartment into position to be filled,and thus the two compart ments will reciprocate alternately to receivethe water of condensation and to determine its quantity withoutreference to its temperature, as the compartments only tilt under acertain amount of weight of the water.

The water when thus measured or weighed may then return to the boilerthrough the pipe D, as shown, or escape, as desired.

To ascertain the number of times the said receptacle is filled in agiven time, it is connected with a registering mechanism, as shown at g,which consists of dials and indicatinghands, as used in gas-meters, andthe axis of the unit-wheel or a pinion-shaft connected therewith extendsin to the chamber C, and has upon its inner extension a ratchet-wheel,into which a pawl pivoted upon the end of the receptacle works, so thateach complete reciprocation is indicated and registered upon the dial;and, by knowing the number of cubic inches of water the compartmentswill hold before tilting it, it will be easy to ascertain the quantityof steam that has been condensed in the heater or radiator, as the waterto the steam is about one to seventeen hundred.

Such an apparatus is useful in buildings or places where parties hirethe use of steam for heating purposes.

It is evident that other forms of metering apparatus may be used, andalso other forms of recording or registering devices; but the apparatusherein set forth will be found to answer the purpose, and is exceedinglysimple in its construction and not liable to get out of working order.

I therefore claim- A waste or return pipe from a steam-heated radiator,employed for warming buildings, in combination with a fluid-meter, asand for the purpose herein set forth.

CARLOS HOLLY.

Witnesses Born ELIOT, A. MOORE.

